Home Ain't Where the Heart Is Anymore
by samanddianefan10
Summary: J/C. Future fic. Jack's inability or unwillingness to see her for who she really is forces Carly to take a deep look at her life. Should she remain true to Jack or to herself or is it possible for her to have it all once again?


Home ain't where the heart is anymore

A Jack/Carly fic

By Melinda

But he don't feel the same  
>Since our lives became<br>Years of bills, babies and chains

Home ain't where his heart is anymore  
>He may hang his hat behind our bedroom door<br>But he don't lay his head down to love me like before  
>Home ain't where his heart is anymore<p>

Carly rolled over in bed as she waited for Jack to drift off to sleep, as was their usual custom. You would think she would be grateful for the token kiss of affection he had planted on her cheek before he rolled over, but then again you would also think Jack would have noticed the tears that had stained his wife's face. She didn't know why she bothered hoping that this night would end any differently than the night before. Jack hadn't made love to her in months, though she had cried, begged, yelled, threatened, and asked. He had simply stopped wanting her and she didn't know why.

She knew that he was thinking of retiring from the force. He'd been there almost twenty years, a nice length of time. And they'd been married almost that long, together through thick and thin. Carly knew she still looked good for a woman her age; men still found her desirable. A few months ago she told Jack that her car had broken down but really she found herself out at a club, and a handsome man came over to buy her drinks. Carly wasn't going to lie, not to herself, the night had ended in a passionate kiss, but the Carly of old had died so she came home to Jack, resigned to her fate. She put on a sexy nighty and lit some candles but if Jack noticed, he didn't show it. He just kissed her on the cheek and went to sleep.

Until that night Carly had accepted her fate. She was a sexless woman now, no passion, just destined for a life of companionship and nothing more. She was okay with that. She really was. She wasn't the old Carly anymore. She wasn't going to throw away a good thing just because she was unhappy. She would have to learn that there were different kinds of love, and she had to figure out what Jack's way of showing love was. After all, he still loved her, didn't he?

She thought back to all those years where they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. They were like magnets. They had crazy chemistry, everyone said, and no one or nothing could keep them apart. Now nothing Carly did could catch his eye. Where did it all go wrong? What had she done wrong? Had she lost her touch? Was she no longer attractive? She hated herself. She was empty and she hated Jack for it. She was trapped and didn't know what to do.

She looked at the phone book, hoping to find counselors but instead found colleges. There was a local one for business that caught her eye. She never thought about it before? Wasn't she too old?

So she called and had an interview, and found some business courses she would like to take. She even enrolled in a Spanish class because they would be going to Spain in a few months. This could be what was missing from her life. If she couldn't make love to her husband she would make something of her life.

So Carly took her classes. She especially enjoyed the Spanish classes. Her partner, Luis, was 25, almost half her age, and was very attentive. Some people who already spoke Spanish audited the class for credit to help those who needed it to learn English. Luis and Carly became very close friends. They talked about everything. The more she learned in Spanish, the more he would call her and she would talk to him in that language. It was their own secret world.

Finally the big day of the trip came up. "Jack, I'm leaving now honey."

"Have a great time. You're going to love it there."

"Aren't you worried I'll meet some hot 25 year old Spanish kid and never come back?" she joked, half heartedly, wondering what he would say.

"No Carly. It's me. You always come back."

Carly stared at him. "Maybe I won't this time." And she stormed off before Jack could respond. That's his girl, he chuckled. Always so dramatic. That's what he loved about her.

But little did he know that's what Carly meant. She wound up making love with Luis for the first time, and felt no shame. It had been too long since she had been touched, and he made her feel alive again, and appreciated. Pretty soon they were skipping out on the rest of the trip just to be together. And when they plane left neither of them were on it.

Jack was surprised when Carly wasn't back when she said she was going to be. It took him a few days to realize that she meant what she said, that she wasn't coming back. He looked in her drawer and found her cell phone. He picked it up and checked the voice mail and heard countless messages from Luis, some in Spanish, some in English. He didn't have to speak Spanish to know what those ones meant. He was in trouble. Carly had left him.

He felt sick to his stomach. Carly was gone. And he knew why. It was all his fault. He had ignored her for so long. He stopped trying months ago. He knew she was an affectionate person but he denied her for so long now she found comfort in someone who could give her what he couldn't. How could he have done this?

It was a few months later, late at night when someone knocked on the door. Jack opened it up only to see his wife standing there, looking at him. He didn't ask any questions, he didn't want any lies, all he knew was that he had to make things right. He picked up Carly and began to kiss her the way he did twenty years ago. Shocked, she kissed him right back, and they quickly fell back into each other's arms, where they never should have left in the first place.

She never told him what happened in Spain, and he never told her what caused him to push her away, but from that moment on, after hitting bottom, both Jack and Carly put forth an effort to save their marriage. Jack became the loving husband Carly knew, and she tried to become more understanding of his needs. Their house became a home once again.

The end


End file.
